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Q+A: Chris Graham on Home Brew Crew

Hussein Moses — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:44:21 +0000

The Home Brew Crew tour kicked off yesterday and continues throughout the month and ends with a one-off gig on Great Barrier Island in October. We’ll be posting our interview with them next week but in the meantime check out our interview with Chris Graham to find out the latest on his collaboration with the group including a Home Brew TV show, and when we’ll finally see the video for Underneath The Shade. Grab the Crew’s EP’s over here and check out the IV below.

1. Where did you first hear of Home Brew? What attracted you to them in the first place?

I initially heard a buzz about the Brew early last year when my mate Edmund Skillary, [aka MikkiD] an ex-pat DJ based in London, emailed me the Friday song & told me about the classic, conceptual Last Week EP. Ironic, considering I live in Balmoral & the Homebrew were mostly living in Sandringham at the time. Only a stones throw of an EP away, but it got sent to me via Dublin. So I hunted & gathered all their EPs & drank it all up. I guess my initial attraction musically, was Tom Scotch’s accent, so quintessentially kiwi, so Hori, that I assumed he was Maori, only to later meet a skinny jewish dude & his Niuen brothers. But even on that first listen to Friday, it was the accent, the storytelling, the humour, the Hazbeats, the Lui character voices, the memorable hooks. I was amped that NZ had finally birthed our own unique version of the Pharcyde.

2. I read on your blog that it was you who personally contacted the band about directing a video for them. Have you ever done that with an artist before?

Not for ages. When I moved back to Welly in 99′ from living 7 years in NYC, I came back with hunger to make local music videos & make my mark. So I approached all the local bands I wanted to make videos for; Trinity Roots, Rhombus, P-Money, & Scribe.. After I made a handful, I started getting approached by other artists who liked those videos; Bic Runga, Dei Hamo, Kapisi, Smashproof. So I guess it had been a minute since I approached a band. Once I marinated on the various Homebrew EP’s & heard that they were as local, I got Tom’s phone, called him up & expressed my fan-dom & invited myself over for brews. That webisode where they approach me to make a video is a reversed myth.

3. The Radio Promo and Drinking Tour videos you made for the benefit show were a huge success. Who’s idea was it to do them?

I guess it was a collab Idea one day down at Plaything Gallery. Basically, they didn’t get NZ on Air funding for the ‘Under the Shade’ song that we agreed was going to be their first Video that I’d make, so we came up with the Idea of throwing a Music Video fund raising party. The Webisode ideas came from us wanting to raise awareness of the party & get heads through the door to raise as big a budget as we could.. It worked, as much like a classic Homebrew vs. Goliath on Air story, missing out on standard 5K funding, meant we just did it ourselves & raised 14K instead.

4. What other ideas have you been exploring with the band? When I interviewed them, they mentioned that you wanted to make a sitcom about them. Is this true?

It tis true. I haven’t been telling anyone about that, but after making those Webisodes & recognising their potential for comedy, I pitched the Idea of a TV show to them, not a sitcom, but more like a local version of ‘How to Make It in America’ [HBO] & ‘Entourage’. Although they were keen enough for months of development & writing on it, its a shame as they recently decided they don’t have the balls to do it after all.

5. You’ve been busy with a whole bunch of other projects but when can we expect to see the video for Underneath The Shade?

Late Octobor. Coming to a YouTube near you. Im amped for it, its a huge, ambitious & metaphorical concept for an important song with meaning.

Video: Kimbra “Settle Down”

Hussein Moses — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:56:08 +0000

Kimbra, the Melbourne-based New Zealander is a singer in a getting-longer list of a new breed of female pop singers ready to take over our airwaves. Add Zowie and Ruby Frost and suddenly Gin, Brooke Fraser and Anika Moa have some competition. The 20-year-old’s latest single Settle Down is from her forthcoming album Vows and she’s been keeping busy lately with the attention from the Australian music media and even Perez Hilton. Catch up New Zealand. Interesting fact: “Did you know the percussion in ‘Settle Down’ included a vigorously shaken tampon packet?”

Misfits Announce New Zealand Show

The Corner — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:55:13 +0000

PRESS RELEASE: From the hell they came 30 years ago in a small town in New Jersey called Lodi. It was there, at the dawn of the punk movement in April 1977, that the Misfits were born.

Taking for their name the title of Marilyn Monroe’s final movie, they set out to make an impression. Instead they wound up making history and creating a legacy which has withstood the test of time.

Today, boasting a massive catalogue of music old and new, a new line-up consisting of founding member Jerry Only plus legendary Black Flag members Dez Cadena and ROBO, the Misfits are generating more interest than ever before.

With an influence felt around the world, The Misfits live in 2011 promises an unmatched level of visceral energy and unrivalled showmanship. Don’t miss your chance to experience firsthand why, even after three decades, there’s no one who outdoes MISFITS.

One New Zealand show only! January 27th at The Kings Arms, Auckland.

Special guests TBA.

Breaking Down The VNZMA Nominees; Why This Should Be Gin’s Year

Hussein Moses — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:18:40 +0000

The nominees for the most important industry event in New Zealand music were announced yesterday evening at the Langham hotel in Auckland. The Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards take place on October 7 and this year it’s Gin Wigmore and Dane Rumble that lead the nominations with six each, followed by The Phoenix Foundation with five and J. Williams and Anika Moa with three. Naturally, there’s some discrepancies with the most obvious being that Stan Walker who had the number one single in the country for nine weeks is merely nominated for a People’s Choice Award. But even if Walker has been relegated to the back of the room he should easily pick up the award for Highest Selling NZ Single (the same award Ben Lummis won back in 2004 for what it’s worth) and Airplay Record of the Year; two awards where there weren’t any nominees announced.

But like Ladyhawke shyly dominated at last years awards, this year has to belong to Gin. I guess we all saw this coming a year ago when Holy Smoke was released and she started appearing on magazine covers all around the country, but keep in mind what she’s done. As of this week, Holy Smoke sits at number 16 after spending a total of 45 weeks on the albums chart. Nothing else even comes close to it and even though this isn’t just about how well she’s done commercially, combine it with her international success — which started somewhere around the time she managed to get The Cardinals on her album through to playing on Jimmy Kimmel Live to touring with Citizen Cope and Jamie Cullum — and we should have a cleansweep. Keep in mind that she’ll most likely be the one taking home the award for Highest Selling NZ Album and International Achievement as well.

Plus if you look at the history of the awards, there has always been one artist celebrated the most and it’s usually the one that takes home the award for Album of the Year. For example:

2004: Scribe
2005: Fat Freddy’s Drop
2006: Bic Runga
2007: The Mint Chicks
2008: Flight of the Concords
2009: Ladyhawke

It’s not like Gin doesn’t know this either; someone should thank her management for getting her back in New Zealand for the lead up to the award night (instead of flying her in the day before like Ladyhawke) and booking a tour scheduled for next month that will coincide nicely with the hype that surrounds that music awards. This time around she’ll also be hitting all the smaller spots that she missed before such as Dunedin, Palmerston North and Hamilton.

However, Gin’s competitors will also be the toughest. 2009/10 was the year when local pop music finally gained back some real momentum that it had been lacking. Rumble’s been rearing his sunglass-strapped mug onto our TV screens more than I care to admit and The Phoenix Foundation will undoubtedly take home a couple of awards (most likely Best Rock Album and Best Group) on the back of their critically adored album Buffalo (which has already won three technical awards). But as always, we’ll have to wait until next month for the results. And per usual, we’ll be wrapping this thing up our own way.

The Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards Finalists

Vodafone Album of The Year

Anika Moa – Love in Motion
Dane Rumble – The Experiment
Gin Wigmore – Holy Smoke
Shapeshifter – The System Is A Vampire
The Phoenix Foundation – Buffalo

Vodafone Single of The Year

Dane Rumble – Cruel
Gin Wigmore – Oh My
J.Williams – You Got Me
Kids Of 88 – Just A Little Bit
The Phoenix Foundation – Buffalo

Steinlager Best Group

Shapeshifter – The System Is A Vampire
The Checks – Alice By The Moon
The Phoenix Foundation – Buffalo

Best Male Solo Artist

Connan Mockasin – Please Turn Me Into The Snat
Dane Rumble – The Experiment
J.Williams – Young Love

Mazda Best Female Solo Artist

Anika Moa – Love in Motion
Gin Wigmore – Holy Smoke
Hollie Smith – Humour And The Misfortune Of Others

Pacific Blue Breakthrough Artist of The Year

Artisan Guns – Autumn
Dane Rumble – The Experiment
Gin Wigmore – Holy Smoke

PPNZ Best Rock Album

Dimmer – Degrees of Existence
The Checks – Alice By The Moon
The Phoenix Foundation – Buffalo

Best Pop Album

Anika Moa – Love in Motion
Dane Rumble – The Experiment
Gin Wigmore – Holy Smoke

Best Urban / Hip Hop Album

David Dallas – Something Awesome
J.Williams – Young Love
Young Sid – What Doesn’t Kill Me

Kiwi FM Best Aotearoa Roots Album

Fly My Pretties – A Story
Hollie Smith – Humour And The Misfortune Of Others
Opensouls – Standing In The Rain

Best Music Video

Nathan Hickey – Buffalo (The Phoenix Foundation)
Sam Peacocke – Sleepeater (Shihad)
Tim Van Dammen – Just A Little Bit (Kids Of 88)

Best Electronica Album

Bulletproof – Soundtrack To Forever
P-Money – Everything
Shapeshifter – The System Is A Vampire

Best Gospel / Christian Album

Edwin Derricutt – Three Hours South
John Michaelz – Walk on Water
Magnify – Wonderland

Best Classical Album

John Psathas – UKIYO
NZTrio – FLOURISHES
Simon O’Neill – Father & Son: Wagner Scenes & Arias
Strike Percussion – Sketches

Vodafone Peoples’ Choice

Gin Wigmore
Dane Rumble
Kids of 88
Shapeshifter
Stan Walker

– Technical Awards –

Best Album Cover

Paul Johnson for Buffalo (The Phoenix Foundation) – WINNER
Rebekah Atkins, Kieran Rynhart, Mikee Tucker and Anita Liu for A Story (Fly My Pretties)
Ryan Marx for Everything (P-Money)

MAINZ Best Engineer

Andre Upston for Magnetic (Miriam Clancy)
Lee Prebble for Buffalo (The Phoenix Foundation) – WINNER
Lee Prebble for A Story (Fly My Pretties)

MAINZ Best Producer

Jeremy Toy for Standing In The Rain (Opensouls)
Lee Prebble and Barnaby Weir for A Story (Fly My Pretties)
The Phoenix Foundation for Buffalo (The Phoenix Foundation) – WINNER

[via NZ Herald]

Stream Interpol’s New Self-Titled Album

Hussein Moses — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:35:31 +0000

Interpol’s fourth album is also their last album with longtime bassist Carols D, who left the band shortly after the album was wrapped up. So in a way, it’s a new start for the group; this time around it’s a self-titled album and we’ve got our fingers crossed that the band will be touring down here sometime next year. The album gets released next week and until then you can stream it in it’s entirety over at MySpace.

Addressing The Big Day Out 2011 Line-Up Rumours

Hussein Moses — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:23:29 +0000

The first Big Day Out announcement for January 2011 is about a month away. It’s the country’s biggest music festival and already the rumours for next years line-up are rife. We decided to weigh up each artist separately to judge just how likely it would be if they played. Rankings are out of five (one being not likely, five being highly likely). Let’s do this.

Soundgarden - 5/5 – Details emerged at the beginning of the year that Soundgarden were back together and planning a tour and since then there’s been rumours they they’ll be back to play the festival for a third time. They headlined BDO in 1994 and 1997 before breaking up and anybody that’s heard Badmotorfinger will tell you that this is the sort of show that will bring BDO back from the dark corner it’s been in for the past few years. Also, Big Day Out need these sort of bands to draw the biggest crowds; acts such as Tool, Rage Against The Machine, Metallica, System of a Down and Muse have all headlined the festival in the past and they all tread that line between appealing to an alternative audience and getting played on mainstream rock radio. Without a doubt, these guys will be headlining the festival in 2011.

Stone Temple Pilots – 5/5 – Even as I’m writing this, it feels ridiculous to suggest that the festival is going to turn into a 90′s grunge revival but as it looks, there’s a pretty good chance that it’s going to happen. And it will be awesome. A lot of people seem to be more familiar with Scott Weiland’s heroin habit and his stint with ‘supergroup’ Velvet Revolver but keep in mind that STP were heavyweight’s in the 90′s. Sex Type Thing, Plush, Interstate Love Song, Sour Girl, Creep; a perfect soundtrack for when the sun begins to set on Friday afternoon at Ericsson Stadium.

Hole – 4/5 – Courtney Love is way unreliable so I’m apt to take anything she says with a grain of salt. But if this 90′s revival thing is going to happen (shout out to Fashion Quarterly, No Magazine, Black Magazine, Russh etc who will hop on this grunge buzz in about two months) then we should probably include Hole in the equation. Among such quotables as, “I remember the smell of New Zealand and the sounds of Tui birds. It’s not the most exciting place in the world … but it’s really beautiful,” Love told Stuff earlier in the year she was pretty sure it was going to happen.

Arcade Fire 3/5 – The bands latest album The Suburbs debuted at number three in New Zealand and number one in the US and UK, which should give you an idea of just how far they’ve come. They also put on a pretty memorable show on the main stage a couple of years back so they’re more than prepared for this. Also, they’re wrapping up their tour of the UK and Europe right now and since they didn’t get picked as part of the incredible Falls Festival line-up, BDO seems like a plausible option.

Blink 182 – 4/5 – Rumours tell me that these guys will indeed be playing the festival but are there still people that want to see them? Yeah, there probably are. Also, where would they fit into the timetable? Is it going to be in the evening at like 6pm when people are getting dinner or are they going to be given one of those 4pm time slots when everyone realises that they’re roasted as shit from sitting in the sun all day? Or are they just going to headline one of the smaller stages and we’re going to have to pretend that we like them as much as NOFX?

M.I.A – 3/5 – What better way for someone to hit all the main spots down under in one hit than to play the Big Day Out? Plus, Born Free deserves stadium status.

Die Antwoord – 5/5 – This is happening.

The Black Keys – 3/5 - There hasn’t actually been much talk of these guys heading down under at all but do the math; they’ve just released their latest and possibly best album of their career in the form of Brothers and the festival needs an act like this to even out the genres and keep the indie kids happy. They would be the perfect band to close of the small stages or play an afternoon set similar to what The Horrors did this year. Let’s hope.

Deftones – 3/5 – The Deftones played one of the most anti-climatic shows I’ve ever witnessed at the Big Day Out in 2003 but they’re back with a new album, Diamond Eyes, and seemingly as popular as ever. I’d be surprised if the band doesn’t get picked for the festival but according to this story they will be touring down here next year anyway.

Kings Of Leon – 4/5 – KOL are easy money these days. Remember when they first played all those years ago and Caleb was so wasted that he had to vom on the side of the stage? That was cool. Now they’ve got all got makeovers and are releasing shitty number one singles like Sex On Fire. They’re the poster boys for selling out but this also means that they have the ability to book a show at Vector Arena and sell that motherfucker out. If BDO’s cheque book stretched far and wide I’d say this would be a sure thing, but if the band (or their manager) were smart then they would just book their own show here over summer and rake that $$$ in themselves. Still, a Soundgarden/Stone Temple Pilots/Kings of Leon big three line-up seems awfully likely right now. Only time will tell.

Arcade Fire Release “The Wilderness Downtown” Project

Hussein Moses — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:12 +0000

Arcade Fire have teamed up with director Chris Milk and Google for The Wilderness Downtown project, which is an interactive music video experience for We Used To Wait from their latest album The Suburbs. The kicker here is that the interactive video aims to be a personalised experience; enter the address where you grew up and see what happens. Keep in mind that the project works best with Google Chrome and enter here.

Gin Wigmore Announces “The Grave Train” Tour

The Corner — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:14:37 +0000

PRESS RELEASE: After taking on the United States Gin Wigmore is heading back to New Zealand with The Grave Train national tour this October.

2010 has been a stellar year for the diminutive Auckland-born singer, her debut album Holy Smoke, which features the chart-topping singles; Oh My, I Do and Too Late For Lovers, is very close to hitting the quadruple-platinum mark in New Zealand.

Gin is also hotly tipped for success at the 2010 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, with finalist nominations being announced early September.

After her first New Zealand headline tour in February, Gin left to conquer the United States.

In March she made her US debut, launching Holy Smoke with a live performance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, then embarked on a string of live performances with folk-pop singer Citizen Cope.

People magazine gave Holy Smoke three out of four stars and described her voice as ‘Tangueray-soaked that’s part Amy Winehouse and part Macy Gray’.

In the US, alt-rock track One Last Look featured in a nationwide television commercial and the ballad Dying Day was used on a recent episode of the ABC show Private Practice.

After briefly returning closer to home to tour Australia with Dan Sultan in May, she headed back to the States to support English singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum.

However, in October she’ll be back on home soil for a nationwide tour supported by foot-stomping Australian blues-rock band The Snowdroppers.

The Grave Train tour will kick off in Auckland, before moving onto Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Don’t miss the enigmatic Gin Wigmore live this October;

Tour Dates:

Auckland – Town Hall – Saturday 9
The Edge Ticketing www.the-edge.co.nz 0800 289 842

Hamilton - Founders Theatre – Sunday 10
Ticketek www.ticketek.co.nz 0800 842 538

Palmerston North – Regent on Broadway – Tuesday 12
Ticket Direct www.ticketdirect.co.nz 0800 484 2537

Wellington – Opera House -Wednesday 13
Ticketek www.ticketek.co.nz 0800 842 538

Christchurch – Town Hall – Saturday 16
Ticketek www.ticketek.co.nz 0800 842 538

Dunedin – Regent Theatre – Sunday 17
Ticket Direct www.ticketdirect.co.nz 0800 484 2537

Tickets on sale 9.00am Monday, September 6th

Q+A: Knives At Noon

Hussein Moses — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:21:38 +0000

Dunedin band Knives At Noon have been garnering an audience lately with their much talked about show at Homegrown as well as their opening gig for Vampire Weekend earlier in the year. The band are about to release their brand new EP Glitter Guts and we hit up keyboardist Oli Wilson to ask him a few questions about their songwriting process, Creative Commons and when we can get expect to see them play.

1. There’s not to much information about you on the net – how did the band get started? At what point did you realise that it was time to take it seriously as a profession?

About a year ago. We had previously been jamming on and off for a few years, but everyone had their own things to do (e.g. work, study, travel) and it wasn’t until a year ago when we all ended up living back here in Dunedin that we decided to knuckle down and prioritize music making. At the time, Tim (McCartney, the singer) was living in Timaru playing Buddy Holly in a local production of Buddy, I was traveling to and fro from Papua New Guinea doing fieldwork for a PhD, and our then-guitarist Andy moved to Auckland to take a job as a suit-wearing government slave. So about a year ago I moved back from Papua New Guinea, we dragged Tim back to Dunedin from Timaru, and found a new guitarist Paul, and started to practice and write regularly. A few months later we recorded Glitter Guts and began playing regularly.

2. Tell me about the process of writing the songs that ended up on Glitter Guts.

For most of the tracks Tim McCartney would come up with an idea, and record it onto an old 4-track tape recorder, usually just with a piano or guitar. Then we’d structure and arrange the songs as a band, adding drums, synths and electric guitar. For example, ThunderVeins was originally written for just voice and piano, and when you listen to it most tracks, I think you can kinda tell, there is a hierarchy that prioritizes melody and lyrics, then everything serves these in some way or another. We are not a ‘jam’ band, in fact we have never written a song by jamming – our approach is more structured and I guess, in a way, a bit clinical.

3. I understand that ‘ThunderVeins’ was recorded back in November. Was that a different mix to the one that’s on the record?

In fact, all the songs were originally recorded in November last year, they have been tweaked a bit here and there since then, but mostly have not changed too much. It has taken a while to get this EP out, but we are proud of it, and wanted to do it right – through the right avenues and with the right label support, and this all takes time. Also, we wanted to do a video as well, and ended up choosing Violins and Violince for this, and again, we wanted to do this right, with the right individuals, which meant things took a while to get completed. But we are very happy with the results we have achieved through not rushing, which meant not compromising. It also means we have a large catalogue of songs ready for the next release, and we have just started recording again…

4. How has your songwriting process changed since you formed back in 2007?

Mainly, when Paul replaced Andy last year, the songwriting shifted from an Andy-and-myself collaboration, to mainly Tim McCartney. Actually, I suppose you could say with only two original members (from four) the band is a very different band to what it was in 2007 – we don’t play any songs from then, and our sound and approach is completely different.

5. Why have you chosen to release an EP? Was there a temptation to just keep going and record an album?

This was the first recording project with then-new lineup; with Paul on Guitar, and Tim McCartney spearheading the songwriting, so it just made sense to do an EP and not the massive undertaking that is an album. The EP is a snapshot of the music we were making for just a few months leading up to recording that EP, whereas an album is a much bigger and definitive creative statement. As musicians, only now are we even considering doing an album.

6. I read that you chose to adopt a Creative Commons licence with your debut EP. What motivated you to do that? Will you be doing the same thing with Glitter Guts?

Right back at the very beginning, we decided put out our music online under a CC license, as our efforts were not commercially oriented whatsoever, the whole idea was that people could remix, mash-up and sample our stuff freely. It was a kind of an experiment in a way, to see how the life of a recording could exist outside of the studio. Interestingly, it failed. Some uses of our work were great, but mostly people destroyed these songs with horrible versions that we’d be happy if they never saw the light of day. It sounds a bit purist now, but it was soul destroying hearing your hard work being butchered. The ideology behind it was good, but the results not so much, so we decided this was no longer for us. While we are still open to the idea of doing remixes, now we are highly selective on who we let near our music.

7. When can we expect some tour dates to be announced?

Knives At Noon have no immediate plans of a ‘nationwide tour’ where you go from one town to the next, but instead have a bunch of unconnected shows booked around the country (and in Australia as of next week), support slots, headlining slots, maybe a festival or two…

Home Brew Crew Make A Trip To The Goldmine (No, Not The One In Waihi)

Hussein Moses — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:46:04 +0000

The Corner interviewed Home Brew Crew a few days back but before we put up the IV — where they talk about their upcoming EP, their ode to Anika Moa and how they’re taking notes from U2 for their live show — we’ll be putting up a series of posts on the band. The first of course has to be on their upcoming tour, where they’re hitting spots such as Gore, Ohakune and Great Barrier Island. Check out their latest video for the tour where they visit the Goldmine above and peep the dates for their tour which starts on Thursday below.